Today is International Women’s Day and Enviromena is celebrating the women who are driving the business forward every day.

Chrissie Allen is the Chief Legal Officer, Company Secretary, and Director at Enviromena, and today she is sharing what it’s like – not just making her own mark on the world of business – but how she wants to be able to show her eight-month-old daughter that she will be able to achieve anything she wants. It’s about ability not gender.

As well as reflecting on her career and how her industry has changed. She says it is far less male-dominated now than it was when she first started out.

Although a lawyer, Chrissie has had an association with energy businesses for her entire working life. Her dad, who Chrissie hails as one of her role models, worked his way up from being “on the tools” to being a senior director at SSE. Chrissie’s career to date has followed a similar path which has been achieved through hard work, commitment and dedication.

She started at SSE herself aged 16 in a call centre and worked in several different departments. Chrissie said: “I eventually moved into legal, working full-time five days a week and going to university at the weekend for seven years. It was intense but I am and always have been career-motivated – it’s important to push yourself.”

Having initially been drawn to criminal law, Chrissie found corporate law fascinating. She says that some of the lure of this field is the ability to make things happen; to enable deals, projects and ultimately add value. Having worked for several energy firms, she has extensive expertise in the industry, which is a huge asset. She says she is also “extremely commercially focused and minded whilst remaining risk averse like a normal lawyer!”